Peter Donohoe launches his series of
Piano Sonatas by W. A. Mozart (1756-91) with a disc containing two
Sonatas from Mozart's set of six, composed in Munich in his late teens, together with his penultimate Sonata, composed in Vienna a couple of years before his death aged just 35. Donohoe also throws in the popular
Fantasia in D minor, K284 for good measure. The early
Sonatas are full of energy and drive, and as with all Mozart's
Piano Sonatas, when played as expertly as they are hear, they sound deceptively simple. Donohoe's tempi are on the well-judged steady side, which means that Mozart's frequent rapid runs and arpeggios are always clear and precise. The hand-crossing passages in
K284 have clarity and poise, and the substantial finale here, a theme and no fewer than twelve variations, has a wonderful arc of development, with more precision in the complexity of triplets against semiquavers and more hand-crossing. Donohoe holds the final note of the tenth variation over into the lengthy elegiac variation that follows, in which he allows himself a little freedom to allow the elaborate ornamentation to breathe, before the light brevity of the final triple time variation brings the
Sonata to a lively close.
K280 again appears straightforward, but its first movement surprises with striking chromatic harmonic progressions in the development section, and Donohoe brings out the plaintive lilt of the slow movement, before dancing through the sprightly
Presto. His
Fantasia is heartfelt and more introspective, less obviously showy, which fits well with the lightness of the D major conclusion, which can sound incongruous if the first half is overblown. Again, Donohoe takes a measured approach to the opening movement of
K570, which allows space for the ranging harmonies in its development section to be registered. The slow movement here is beautifully contemplative, and Donohoe plays the graceful second half with great delicacy, before enjoying the perkiness of the sprightly finale. On the basis of this first volume, Donohoe's Mozart is warm, open and precise, allowing the music to breathe, achieving a fine balance, allowing for moments of drama without ever losing classical grace and poise. Roll on volume 2!
Mozart, W. A. 2019. Piano Sonatas, Volume 1. Peter Donohoe. Compact Disc. Somm Recordings SOMMCD 0191.
Another first volume now, this time Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) String Quartets, from the Doric String Quartet. Here we have the first and last of Mendelssohn's six published quartets, together with the fifth, spanning from age just twenty to the year of his death, aged 38 (so just 3 years older than Mozart at his death). If you don't know Mendelssohn's chamber music, then you should - it is always full of life and energy, as well as incredible invention. The first String Quartet, Op. 12 stems from the time of Mendelssohn's infamous Scottish tour that produced the Hebrides Overture and the Scottish Symphony. Its opening movement never stops flowing, with warm lyricism as well as a turbulent urgency, and the Doric String Quartet never let that sense of perpetual progress to sag. The canzonetta second movement is light and delicate, and the players skitter through the quicker central section with ease. Following the passionate and striking third movement, the finale is frenzied and again turbulent, with swirling, dizzying lines for the violins, before a surprising quiet conclusion. Mendelssohn referred to the late String Quartet Op. 80 as his 'Requiem for Fanny', his beloved sister had suddenly died following a stroke. It is indeed a work of passion, with its frenzied, nervy opening movement and earnest scherzo with its dark trio section. The slow movement is full of yearning, the Dorics bringing this out with beauty of tone throughout, and the finale, with its hints of Schubert's Death and the Maiden, is wild and heartfelt. On a short second disc, we have the String Quartet Op. 44 No. 3, completed just before the birth of his first son in 1838. It is lively and spirited, with a fleeting scherzo and a beautifully lyrical slow movement that moves from light to shade and back, before an energetic finale full of remarkable invention. The Dorics once again carry the almost relentless energy throughout the work, particularly the lengthy finale. Highly recommended.
Mendelssohn, F. 2018. String Quartets, Volume 1. Doric String Quartet. Compact Discs (2). Chandos CHAN 20122(2).
Silvius Leopold Weiss (1686-1850), a contemporary of J S Bach, has been a bit of recent discovery for me, and regular readers will have read about several recordings of his music in these pages. Lutenist
Alex McCartney (another favourite) has brought us more of this lutenist-composer’s wonderful compositions on his latest disc,
Weiss in Nostalgia. In the notes, McCartney explains this title in a rather roundabout way, which might seem rather technical – he performs the works on a 13-course lute, basically an instrument with additional bass strings that would have appeared later than when Weiss composed the two early
Suites he plays here. So he has the idea of an older Weiss performing his early compositions on a larger, more ‘up-to-date’ instrument. This might not be particularly discernible to anyone not versed in the myriad forms of instruments in the lute family, but there is nevertheless definitely a rather wistful, nostalgic atmosphere here. This might be partly to do with the very resonant, close recording, which makes for strong sense of intimacy in McCartney’s playing. But the opening
Prelude of the
Suite No. 1, for example, immediately establishes a serene, calm atmosphere, followed up in the elegiac
Allemande that follows. Nothing is rushed, with a gentle lilt to the
Courante, and
Menuets played with grace and poise. Only the
Gigue lifts the tempo with a bounce in its step, and McCartney expertly brings out the melodic bass and tenor lines from within the texture in the closing
Gavotte. The shorter
Suite No. 13 that follows has richer, thicker textures, yet McCartney’s playing is never too heavy. The
Courante is rich and flowing, and the final
Menuet has drone-like repeated bass notes, presumably with added emphasis on the 13-course instrument. Whilst clearly challenging music to play, this is never overly showy, and McCartney consistently plays with grace and delicacy, making this a joy to listen to.
Weiss, S. L. 2018. Weiss in Nostalgia. Alex McCartney. Compact Disc. Veterum Musica VM019.
We go back at least three centuries now for medieval wind music performed by the ensemble
Blondel. Here we have shawms (early oboes), recorders and even bagpipes, along with the occasional sackbut (like a trombone) or slide trumpet, and an assortment of percussion instruments including tambor, frame drum and tamburello. So an eclectic mix, and on a disc of a lot of relatively short tracks, this means there’s an incredible variety of textures and timbres. The overarching inspiration for the disc, which is titled
‘Of Arms and a Woman’, is the work of Christine de Pizan (1364-c.1430), described in the notes as ‘a forthright feminist, writer, political theorist, royal agony aunt and author of self-help books’, and most surprisingly perhaps, the author of
‘The Book of Fayttes of Arms and of Chivalrye’, a highly influential manual on modern warfare, of which Henry VII commissioned an English translation. Although performed here instrumentally, most if not all the pieces were originally chansons or vocal settings, drawing on a wide variety of texts. There are the usual themes of love and loss, but also a medieval call to arms in
‘A cheval, tout home a cheval’, and the slightly unsettling
‘Gardez le trait de la fenestre’ (Beware the arrow from the window). Only one text is by Pizan herself, a poem of grief over the loss of her husband,
‘Dueil angoisseus’ (Agonising grief), set by Gilles Binchois (c.1400-1460). As detailed are the notes about the music, the connection to Pizan and the overall theme is not always entirely apparent. There’s lots of anonymous music here, as well as settings by Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), Robert Morton (c.1430-c.1479), Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) and others. The contrast between the slightly more rustic, eastern-sounding bagpipes, the lively shawms and the more subdued and subtle recorders, as well as the occasional splashes of percussion, allow the five performers here to demonstrate impressive range and versatility. From the folky bounce and rhythmic energy of
‘A cheval, tout home, a cheval’ played on shawms to the strange rhythms in canon for recorders of Johannes Ciconia’s (1370-1412)
‘Le ray au soleyl’, and the atmospheric dance for bagpipes with tamburello of Machaut’s
‘Je vivroie liement’, this is a fascinating collection, well worth exploration.
Various. 2019. Of arms and a woman - Late medieval wind music. Blondel. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR69.
And by way of contrast, I'd like to highlight a local artist,
Oli Spleen, who has joined forces with local indie band
Birdeatsbaby for his second studio album,
Gaslight Illuminations. Spleen's work might not be an obvious fit with this column, and he is hard to categorise, yet this album, with its deft writing for strings piano, and Spleen's soulful and expressive voice, should have broad appeal. Written after the death of his father, it touches on deep and dark emotions, and Spleen's closely miked voice is rich and immediate. There are touches of French chanson in the poignant
'Almost Young', whilst there's more than a dash of country, with steel guitar, in
'Little Lost', vocals shared between Spleen and
Mishkin Fitzgerald. Spleen is Bowie-esque in the darkly self-destructive
'Mother and the Spoon', and the self-destruction, even self-harm of relationships continues in
'Ghost', which Spleen concludes with an otherworldly, pained falsetto. Their cover of Nico & the Velvet Underground's
'I'll be your Mirror' is pared back, over simple piano and strings (with a snippet of a Brahms
Hungarian Dance on music box at the end!). Hana Maria deserves mention for the strings writing and playing, with some hauntingly glassy strings on
'Mister Crystal' and an improvisatory violin line in the weirdly dark and distorted
'Turning Tide'. Listen and download from
olispleen.bandcamp.com.
(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, March & April 2019)
Pianist Mark Bebbington has recorded a disc of works by Arnold Bax (1883-1953), along with a premiere recording of Harriet Cohen’s (1895-1967) Russian Impressions. The disc opens with Bax’s Sonata in E flat major, which was never performed publicly in Bax’s lifetime. He wrote it in 1921, but the densely textured work went on to form his First Symphony, so the piano version was laid to one side. It opens explosively with weighty, dramatic exclamations, although it subsides into relative calm, before slowly building back up in intensity. Bebbington manages the thick textures and chromatic colours with great clarity, and paces the ebb and flow of the dynamic shifts with great control, and the watery ripples of the opening of the slow movement are captivating. Again, the music builds to a phenomenal climax, before a beautifully soft and tender conclusion. The weighty chordal opening to the finale gives way to a sprightly chromatic theme, and Bebbington leads us towards its emphatically triumphant close with energy and determination. The Sonata is followed here by an unpublished work by Bax, In the Night (Passacaglia). This has a dreamy, nocturnal feel throughout, and after the fireworks of the Sonata, it gives Bebbington the chance to demonstrate a softer touch, although there is also a fervently romantic climax here too. The Four Pieces from 1947 were again not performed in Bax’s lifetime, and receive their premiere recording here. A spiky, sardonic Fantastic March is followed by more nocturnal writing in the dark Romanza, then a calmer Idyll, before an uneasy, turbulent Phantasie to finish. The single movement Legend concludes the disc here, with its rippling arpeggios and cantabile central melody, concluded with more emphatic chordal writing. But before this comes Cohen’s Russian Impressions. Pianist Harriet Cohen was a key figure in English music of the time, premiering works by many composers, including Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Ireland and of course Bax, with whom she had a forty-year affair. Her Russian Impressions are her only original compositions in print. As one might expect from the title, the four movements are impressionistic, with an atmospheric Sunset on the Volga to open, followed by a solemnly touching The Exile. The Old Church at Wilna is equally moody, with its tolling opening chords, and The Tartars, the longest of the four pieces, uses more bell-like chords to underpin its darkly mellow melody. Bebbington brings out some of the richness in Cohen’s harmonies within these atmospheric miniatures, and they provide welcome contrast to the weight of Bax’s writing. An interesting exploration of mostly unknown repertoire, expertly and knowledgeably performed here.
